ITA Airways marked the start of its peak-season schedule by cutting inaugural ribbons in both Málaga and Valencia on 11 June. The carrier’s new daily services link the two Spanish cities with its Rome Fiumicino hub from 1 June to 30 September 2026, offering over 60,000 additional seats during the summer. The flights are timed to feed Rome’s late-morning European bank of connections, enabling same-day onward travel to 20 EU capitals and to long-haul destinations such as São Paulo and Buenos Aires. Speaking at the launch, Commercial Director Emiliana Lupini said the routes plug a “Mediterranean corridor” sought by tour operators and multinational firms that rotate seasonal staff between Italy and Spain. Beyond Spain, ITA is also adding a twice-daily Rome–London Heathrow service and will open a Rome–Houston flight in July, followed by Rome–Santo Domingo in November. The expansion comes as Lufthansa Group moves to increase its stake in ITA to 90 %, a deal expected to unlock code-share synergies and reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits. For corporate travel buyers, the new Spain routes offer an alternative to existing Vueling and Ryanair options, particularly valuable during the current wave of European aviation strikes. ITA has loaded fully refundable “Flex Corporate” fares on the segment, priced roughly 12 % below equivalent fares last summer, according to forward-data analyst OAG. Air-cargo stakeholders are upbeat, too: Valencia’s perishable-goods exporters gain a same-day connection to ITA’s wide-body network toward the Middle East and Asia via Rome. With capacity tight across southern Europe, the additional narrow-body belly space could shave up to 24 hours off transit times for fresh produce headed to markets in Dubai and Doha.
Source: Camera Italiana Barcelona
